Puglia Travel Guide

Imagine Italy as a shapely leg shod by a Manolo Blahnik creation and little-visited Puglia (Apulia) is the high heel: a land of vineyards, olive trees and durum wheat fields dotted with beehive-shaped stone houses.

The port towns of Bari and Brindisi offer international flight connections and Rome is a five-hour journey by train.

The southern part of the region is the Salentine Peninsula which juts out into the Adriatic to the cliff-lined north, while the beach-lined southern stretch is bathed by the calm waters of the Ionian Sea.

Puglia's cultural treasures include Baroque Lecce, built almost entirely from a lovely pink-hued limestone; Otranto's Romanesque Cathedral with its 12th-century floor mosaic depicting an intriguing mish-mash of religious and pagan legends; and the hilltop, whitewashed village of Martina Franca, perched at the head of the wine-producing Itria Valley.

Visit in summer for clear blue skies and beach-life (average Jul and Aug temps 25°C); or in spring and autumn to walk the hilly Gargano Natural Park. Winters are mild (average Jan temp 8°C).